Tuesday Trivia

In honor of one of our new November books, The American West, Second Edition: A Modern History, 1900 to the Present by Richard W. Etulian and Michael P. Malone, this installment of “Tuesday Trivia” will test your knowledge of the Western states. Determine whether each statement below is true or false. If you answer them all correctly, we won’t send you on an all-expense paid trip out west to California, but we will send you on a “virtual pictorial tour.”(See picture below at right.) Not enough of an incentive? Well, let’s see how you do, anyway…

True or False?

1.More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state in the United States.

2.One out of every ten United States residents lives in California.

3.California produces more than 27 million gallons of wine each year.

4.Arizona became the 48th state on February 14, 1912.

5.Arizona’s most abundant mineral is copper.

6.Alaska’s most important revenue source is the oil and natural gas industry.

7.Ice fishing is the official state sport of Alaska.

8.The United States federal government owns more than 1/3 of the land in Colorado.

9.Colorado has the highest mean altitude of all the states.

10.Under Idaho law only two forms of city government are allowed: a mayor/councilor or a council/manager form.

11.In Idaho law forbids a citizen to give another citizen a box of candy that weighs more than 75 pounds.

12.Oregon’s state birthday is on December 25th, Christmas.

13.Tillamook is home to Oregon’s largest cheese factory.

14.The hazelnut is Oregon’s official state nut. Oregon is the only state that has an official state nut.

15.Apple Inc. is located in Redmond, Washington

16.Starbucks, the biggest coffee chain in the world was founded in Seattle.

17.The state of Washington is the only state to be named after a United States president.

18.Nevada is the largest gold-producing state in the nation. It is second in the world behind South Africa.

19.The only Nevada lake with an outlet to the sea is man-made Lake Mead.

20.New Mexico was named by 16th century Spanish explorers who hoped to find gold and wealth equal to Mexico’s Aztec treasures.

21.1 out of 2 workers in New Mexico work directly for the Federal Government. State and local governments are also major employers.